Blending In With the Shadows
by Misskinny
Summary: After Richard Grayson's parents were murdered in front of his eyes, everything changed. He was kidnapped by the Court of Owls, trained for five years underground without seeing daylight, and eventually became a Talon. Dick was sure his life was planned out. Then, he was captured by the enemy, and his world became a little more confusing. **ON HIATUS FOR NOW
1. Things Taken For Granted

**Name** : Blending In With the Shadows

 **Summary** : After Richard Grayson's parents were murdered in front of his eyes, everything changed. He was kidnapped by the Court of Owls, trained for five years underground without seeing daylight, and eventually became a Talon. Dick was sure his life was planned out. Then, he was captured by the enemy, and his world became a little more confusing.

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own YJ or any of its characters

* * *

 _Chapter One - Things Taken For Granted_

Dick looked at himself in the mirror, almost shamefully and definitely hesitantly pulling his mask from his face.

A part of him still expected bright, blue, happy eyes when he did so. As if the past five years of living in this underground facility hadn't occurred, and he was still swinging from a trapeze with his parents looking up at him proudly as he did another quadruple flip during his practice. It was quickly pushed out harshly by the dark reality as he gazed into his pitch black eyes, it had been the first thing they'd changed when he got here rather forcefully five years ago. He looked down as the memory of his parents was washed away from his mind, a sad pang in his heart as he remembered they were dead. Though his face showed no emotion as he thought of it, years of training down here did that to you.

He remembered being brought here. Well, waking up here, anyway. He had most likely been drugged, because he didn't remember anything except falling asleep in the back of the social security woman's car. How he had been drugged, he never knew. The woman was killed at the side of the road, been stabbed to death if he remembered one of the Talons correctly. He had never left her sight after being handed rather reluctantly to her by Mr. Haley. He had absolutely no idea, he hadn't eaten anything or drank anything, nothing pricked him and he hadn't been walked up to with a chloroform rag.

Dick sighed as he mentally dropped the issue, the Court had mysterious ways that he could never figure out no matter how much he thought about it. Picking the mask back up and putting it back on his face, he walked out of the bathroom linked to his room, glancing at the camera in the corner of his room. He paid no mind to it, it was to make sure he never escaped, but Dick honestly didn't know how it was possible. For fun once he had tried to pick the lock, but found it impossible. You'd need one type of key to be able to unlock it, and it was sealed from the inside and outside by some type of foam that only released if the correct type of key was used. It baffled him to no end, but released it as just another Court mystery that he'd never figure out.

He was closer to the center of the underground facility, so he didn't have any windows. That that they would be that much help, for they were underground. He knew they were also to deep for a skylight to work, so Dick just mumbled under his breath about the stupidly secure place and sighed, jumping onto the thick mattress. At least he got a nice bed, but he was pretty sure it was only because his uncle was a higher up.

At first he had hated that man with a passion, he was the reason he was in here in the first place. But after a while, he had grown to respect him greatly. Even if this place was harsh and cruel, William Cobb had taken him in when he was more than sure no one else would. In fact, William had even informed Dick that he was going to be thrown into the Gotham Juvenile Delinquent Center without a second glance, no one was willing to take the circus boy in, and there was apparently no space left in the orphanage. Dick rolled his eyes at the last part, William confirming his suspicions with the fact they had declined because they didn't want _another_ never-to-be-adopted boy at their grasps.

Sure, William was horrible in the comfort department, but Dick didn't mind anymore. He didn't want him to be seen as weak, and Dick still thanked him for that. Being seen like that in front of the other Talons and Owlmen made him want to shiver, he'd probably had died already if it weren't for William.

Suddenly getting off his bed, he glanced at the clock to reveal it was getting closer to 9:00 already. He was forced to wake up at six every morning by the alarms that blazed, the sound proof walls making sure it stayed in there and didn't stop until he was out of bed. Dick had learned throughout the years to make it a habit to wake up at 5:59 wide awake to make the sound stop sooner. Glancing at the clock once more, he saw it was 8:45. Quickly jumping out of bed and hurried to get his clothes from the drawers. It was his training clothes, and he quickly went into the bathroom to get prepared for his morning training that usually lasted until 12:00 unless William was called by one of the men that's status rank was above his own. That didn't happen very often, so he never relied on it.

Brushing his teeth, making an amused smirk at the fact that the Court of Owls _did_ enforce hygiene before running out of the room and stood at the doorway for William to arrive. Dick was five minutes early, but he had been late before, and _that_ did not end well. He found it much better to be early than to be even a few seconds late, the last time he had been late was over a year ago, and he had ended up with a broken thumb and was still expected to fight at the same level of perfection or they'd make his injuries worse. He'd manage to barely pull it off, and at 12:00 they had ended, William instructing him to go get one of the light orange voiles on the other side of the room. After doing so, Willim ordered him to stick out his thumb and poured the runny orange liquid onto it. Dick had remembered barely stopping the scream of pain that wanted to erupt from his mouth and fought very hard to keep the look of pain off his face, the orange liquid being poured onto his broken bone hurting far worse than the bone itself. After a full thirty seconds of inwardly screaming, the pain vanished, revealing him able to move his thumb again.

 _He had sent William a questioning look, resulting in a shrug. "It heals minor injuries such as broken bones, our scientist are trying to make less painful versions, but right now this is what we've got."_

 _Dick nodded before giving him an amusing smirk, "if me breaking a bone is a minor injury, what classifies as the most major one?"_

 _William just gave him a frown with a hint of amusement as well, signaling he didn't want to know._

Dick snapped out of his back flash when he heard the foam shrink back. The foam was silent to anyone who wasn't trained, but Dick was very, _very_ well trained in making out noises, even when in the process of remembering something. People who understood how difficult that was were usually very impressed, but he simply shrugged it off. Pretty much everyone knew how to do it here, even the less trained.

Standing in front of William Cobb, his uncle looked him up and down, making sure he had everything before nodding in approval and motioning him to follow to the training room. Standing there was one of the higher ups, which surprised Dick slightly, even though his face was stone. He knew how to make sure emotions never appeared on his face, William had even taugh him to keep guilt off his face. People outside of this place probably didn't know his identity, but if they ever did for an unknown reason, William taught him to show know emotion on his face at the mention of his parents. Even went as far to teach him if they ever tried to make him feel guilty. Going on and on about how his parents would never approve, etc.

At first, he knew it was true, and it was very difficult to not cry. It moved off his face in stages, the sadness was thankfully the first to go. Then the anger at the people who were telling him these things, telling the person to "shut up" was always a dead giveaway that they were getting to him. Eventually, that went away too, and so did keeping emotion out of his voice. Guilt was the third and the hardest by far, someone making him believe his parents would never want this for him, Dick knew it was true, even if he had been forced into this life and hadn't acted on his own accord. William even wanted the part where only _he_ could make out the emotion, in other words, the only part of which only someone really close to him could figure out the emotion in him. Dick learned several tactics about his eyes, too. It was all gone in time, and William had told him he was a little surprised to see how he had done it so fast.

Dick knew William could have told him in any emotion he wanted, or had no emotion at all. When Dick had caught a little pride in his voice, even when he knew William could have easily masked that emotion and kept Dick from ever knowing it was there, it had made him feel proud, too.

He stood aside William as the older man studied him, giving a nod in approval. "I think he's ready, but you're the one that's been training him. Tell me what you think."

Dick kept himself from raising an eyebrow, and instead looked at William blankly. William stared at him, and without even a moment of hesitation, turned to the man with a smirk. "I think he is, too."

* * *

When Dick realized it was finally time for him to become an official Talon, he distantly knew what it meant. It was time for him to go out and kill a man.

But Dick wasn't upset, and he most certainly wasn't scared of taking away a life. The reason he had been pacing the room was because he was thinking of what it would be like. He would finally be able to look at the stars and the moon, something he hadn't seen in five years. If it was going to rain that night, he most certainly wouldn't mind that either. Being sprinkled from above was something he had only felt in the shower for years. Looking at the outside of the building would be a plus, too.

He had been given the target's file, who's name was Quentin Lard, and the general location he was going to be. He was expected to kill his men as well, but if he saw Batman, do not kill him and stay as far away from him as possible. Only defend if necessary, and do not get captured under any circumstances. They had other plans for him, and do not need him out of the way.

William had told him quite a few times the Court was not evil, they only killed people who were poisoning this city. Dick had, at first, not believed that. William wanted him to understand, so he quietly told a story.

 _William was around twenty when this happened, so quite a few years ago. He had been told of a very dangerous, very lethal man who had been killing innocents without reason, the Court told him to take the man down._

 _He had, at first, started the mission. But when he got there and was seen, the mob boss grabbed a little girl and told her to get behind him. "I was a fool, I didn't see the signs. I beat him up, but let him live. Think of it was a warning." Wiliam had told Dick._

 _"I found out that hadn't been his really daughter shortly after, she was a girl who had been kidnapped off the streets and had.. Cruel intentions to touch her inappropriately. I was furious with myself when I found the girl dead, the Court had only been trying to protect more innocent people from dying, and I had foolishly disobeyed them. Even if that had been his real daughter, I should have killed him anyway." He said, much to Dick's horror. He quickly continued. "The kids would most likely grow up to see their parents do this, and would be pressured to do the same. Very few escape these lives, and even if they tried to take over once they get old enough, it feels good to know about the hundreds of kids over the years that got the chance to escape their parent's cruel intent for their children, many even grow up to become successful and have well paying jobs and have loving families."_

 _William gave him a smile, surprising Dick. It had been the first smile he'd gotten since he'd arrived. "We never kill the people who don't deserve it, Dick. We aren't evil, and we don't wish for others die. It's just the way it has to happen, and if we could, we would like to stop the kids who end up orphaned like you."_

Dick checked around him to make sure no one was looking, which was very foolish since he was in his room, then proceeded to smile at the memory. He was doing a good thing, even if others didn't think so.

Straighting up as he heard the very quiet steps towards his room, he jumped off the bed. He was ready.

* * *

Dick took in the fresh air, the first fresh air he'd taken in five years.

Looking up at the stars and the moon, he wanted to cry. It was just as beautiful as he'd remembered it, even more so. The sky was clear and bright, no clouds. Even if he saw a bit of factory smoke, it was worth it.

He couldn't believe that five years ago, he took this stuff for granted.

Faintly remembering his mission, he took in another deep, beautiful breath of air and headed almost reluctantly towards the docs. Running with this wind touching his skin, Dick wished he could run forever. But he couldn't, he had a job to do.

Trained eyes looked into the darkness of the first warehouse sitting on the edge of the docs, but not before looking at the water as it moved in waves along the pier. He heard the sound of the crashing waves before turning his head to stare back at the warehouse. He saw no movement, so he jumped to the other roof. Once he reached pier seven, he looked in and saw movement of several people. He was almost sad, not at killing the man, but at the fact that this meant his mission was almost over, meaning he'd have to trudge back underground. But if he did well enough, he'd get to go out again soon.

Jumping down, not making the slightest sound as an indication he's there, he quietly used his knife to stab the man from behind, right in the heart. He slit the next guy's throat, and moved to the front, his moves were silent and extremely experienced. These guys, for some reason, wore bullet proof vests, but he didn't plan on using his gun for this mission, not until most of the guards were taken down, anyway.

Slitting both of their throats with one movement, he heard a faint thump come from the other side of the warehouse. Dick's eyes widened slightly, he knew Batman was here. He risked getting caught, but he needed to take this guy down, or they may never allow him to come out and breath fresh air again.

With a deep sigh, he grabbed the gun from his utility belt. Even in the darkness, he quickly made out the head of his victim. Trying to keep the fatal thought of getting caught, he shot, and the man fell down. Quickly looking around, six more shots at everyone but Batman and they slumped to the floor. Batman looked around, shocked, and he knew that emotion would only let him hesitate for a few seconds. Running out the door silently, he quickly took a looked back at the ocean before continuing to run, hoping Batman was too far behind to catch up.

* * *

Batman had gotten a tip that Quentin Lard was going to be here tonight. That little scum had been keeping a low profile, but had managed to get enough courage to rob a Burger King. It had been easy to make the connected to Quentin Lard, especially when he had ordered at Burger King and used his credit card, which quickly denied it because he had no money in his account. A moment later he pulled out his gun and demanded all the money in the register, and had shot a cop who had been advancing on him.

Somehow he had gotten out of there, money in a Walmart bag as he ran down the street.

Batman had pretty much seen everything in his time as Batman, and even had a way of how things worked. Barely anything ever surprised him anymore. He silently took down the first goon, getting into his regular schedule of how this worked. Knock out the guards, interrogate Quentin, tie him up, send an alert to Gorton, and disappear before the police arrive. He started to advance the man, ready to attack.

That's when the gun fired.

Batman froze, seeing the man in front of him drop dead. He followed the line of shots, each guard being taken down with an expert shot to the head. Realizing what was going on, he moved to protect Quentin, but realized it was to no avail. Another shot right between the eyes, he had also apparently been frozen on the spot, but it wasn't at the guards, his eyes had been at the door.

Batman looked at the door, just in time to see the figure run off. The word _assassin_ and _dangerous_ crossed his mind, and he began to run after the man with the gun. For a split second, his hazy mind focused on what he had seen at the doorway, the shadow looked like a child.

Bruce shook his head to clear his thoughts while running around in search of the man. His mind was just a little shocked, it was playing a trick on him.

Despite himself, he grimaced.

He _never_ played tricks.

Running, he looked up ahead and saw a figure that was hesitantly looking up at the stars. The Dark Knight made one footstep, and the boy looked at him. Bruce almost stammered back, seeing that he was, indeed, looking at a child. But then another thought went through his head, he had looked up when he walked, and he was sure he hadn't made a sound. The only person that was able to do that was Clark, and he had to be focusing intently.

"Who are you?"

* * *

"Who are you?"

Dick didn't shiver or look scared, he knew that tone of voice probably worked on a lot of people, he could tell that by the fact that Batman's eyes widened a fraction and for a fraction of a second. Most people couldn't catch that type of thing, but granted, he wasn't in the "most people" category.

Honestly, he was fighting the strong urge to stare openingly at him with admiration. Batman had always been his favorite superhero, while most were debating between Superman and the Flash, he always interjected with "Batman's the best".

There was once a time he was dying to meet Batman in person, sometimes when he was stuck underground he laid a silent wish for Batman to come save him, even though he knew that would never happen. He knew he needed to run and disappear, but something stopped him from doing so. He ignored the man and looked back at the stars.

The Court told Dick Batman's secret identity in case he ever needed to escape, but was only told to use it under extreme circumstances. He knew half of the League's identities, mostly because he had asked William, and he just shrugged and told him, saying he might as well, since he might need to use it one day.

He hadn't known what it meant at the time, and right now he was sort of glad he knew them. He wished he knew who Bruce Wayne was, though. He knew he had heard the name before, and was internally debating whether or not to figure out.

All of these thoughts had been through his head in about a minute, he was already a quick thinker, and it had only sped up since his time with The Court.

Dick looked back at Batman, "like I'm going to tell you that."

Dick didn't know if he was supposed to tell him about the Court or not, and decided against it. Only a few people outside knew about its existence and lived, he wasn't sure if Batman was going to be a special exception or not

Batman glared, and Dick just looked into his masked eyes with boredom. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to leave now."

Batman frowned deeply, "I'm afraid I won't be able to let you do that." Dick scoffed, but didn't make an effort to move, he kept glancing up at the stars though, he wished he would start taking them for granted again, but after five years of living underground, he didn't know if that would ever happen again.

Bruce seemed to be internally debating to ask a question, and eventually the part where he wanted to ask won. "Why do you keep looking at the stars?"

Dick laughed slightly, "let's just say, five years of the most interesting thing was a brick wall really seems to make you love the night sky."

Bruce did not seem to expect that being the answer, because his muscles tensed slightly, but Dick realized it wasn't at him. "You were.. Locked inside for five years?"

Dick just shrugged, "first time I've been outside in a while, and I'm afraid it's time for me to go back." Dick didn't bother hiding the reluctance on his face, but it didn't stop him from running.

Batman's moment of hesitation was enough for Dick to successfully making it to the brick wall in an alleyway not to far away when he and Batman had their little conversation. It opened, and he quickly stepped in, he glanced back longingly as the walls shut.

William waited as Dick trudged down the steps that led back to the underground facility and gave him a knowing look when he had reached the bottom. "Your mission was successful?"

Dick gave him a rare smile.

"Yes."

* * *

It's been.. Forever since I put this much effort into a story. I'm sorry for not writing guys, I've been hit with huge writers block, but this story came to me after reading a lot of very bad "Dick is a Talon" stories, and I had just about enough of not being able to relax and read a good Court of Owls story without loudly complaining about the grammar mistakes and such. So, the idea came to me and I decided to use it.

By the way, guys, I'm sorry if some of the things the Court of Owls uses doesn't look possible. I've decided to stop looking for ways to possibly explain it, that sort of stuff isn't in my brain. I also realized it doesn't look like the Court of Owls use guns, but I've decided to explain to you in this story, they only use it as a last resort. They don't want to get noticed, so yeah.

Well, it's 2:00am and I need to sleep. I'm probably not going to, but it's the middle of the night and it's probably better if I try.

So, bye guys! Thanks for all the support you give me, even through the months where I don't update. Oh, right, remember to review! I love hearing what y'all have to say.

Bye!


	2. The Boy Behind the Mask

**Name** : Blending In With the Shadows

 **Summary** : After Richard Grayson's parents were murdered in front of his eyes, everything changed. He was kidnapped by the Court of Owls, trained for five years underground without seeing daylight, and eventually became a Talon. Dick was sure his life was planned out. Then, he was captured by the enemy, and his world became a little more confusing.

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own YJ or any of its characters

* * *

 _Chapter Two - The Boy Behind the Mask_

The Court, to say the least, was impressed with how Richard had performed that night. He had moved with complete silence, expertly took on the henchmen and acted perfectly when Batman had arrived. He knew he couldn't give up on his mission, but he knew better than to get captured. Pulling out the gun instead of fleeing was something the Court had only seen in Talons when they grew older and more experienced. The Court had practically cheered at this small movement, they knew he was going to become a great Talon someday, and will most likely grow to exceed his mentor.

Most of the leaders of the Court glanced at William as he sat in a chair nearest to the door. Many of them didn't know why he was pretending to be one of the lower classes in front of the boy, he was the Court of Owl's most trusted Talon and had managed to gain a spot at the leader's table, soon being promoted as one. He had heavy experience with training, weapons, killing, interrogation, strategies, and much more. William had been very helpful in determining whether or not the young boys the Court had at first deemed fit were actually meant for this way of life. As harsh as he may seem, William never killed a boy that was seemed unfit. Instead, he had offered a much better solution. People were bound to get suspicious and afraid if young boys had been reported missing off the streets started to grow. Instead, he told them to drug their minds and set a reality in their head, the mind would not grow suspicious if it was realistic, he knew that memories could never be fully erased, only hidden, and it was this thought that had told them about a new study in which if the mind believed the memories were correct, the true ones would never be released.

The Court had jumped at the chance, testing it on a boy who seemed unfit a while back. They did this new theory, using a drug that made the mind make up its own reality. After closely watching the boy for a week, they found William to be right. Most of the Court (the few that weren't were the ones who had to make the drug, or just enjoyed the killing part) was thankful William had thought of this, they didn't want to draw attention to themselves.

In addition to this, William had offered to help decide which were worthy and prepared, then filing out who were not. Unsurprisingly, William had never been wrong. The Talons he had chosen were not an inch away from perfect, exceeding the Court's expectations.

But when William found out the Grayson kid had been orphaned, he jumped at the chance to take it.

The Court, of course, knew of William's blood relations. Richard Grayson, they were aware, was his great, great nephew. William had told them of his acrobatic history, and knew he'd be the perfect. The Court, at first, didn't know what to say. But once again, William had never been wrong before, and they knew they could trust his hunch.

Without a doubt, Richard Grayson had grown incredibly over the past five years. He knew of basically every weapon and how to advancely use it, he knew over fifty different styles of fighting and was still learning, languages he had passed with ease and was learning his thirteenth, interigation was over before they could blink, strategies formed in his mind in seconds, and even with all of that, he had somehow managed to master the eighty nine ways to kill people.

The Court was impressed, shocked, prideful, and happy all at the same time. What had taken their best Talons ten years to do was shrunken into five by a thirteen year old boy. He had started when he was eight, and the Court knew he'd aged mentally way past that age very young, but they also knew it was needed.

They had been so eager, some may have even called it _impatient,_ to send that boy out again it was almost difficult to wait until the sun had set. When it finally did, they decided a second test was would be best to prove the boy was ready to become a Talon.

Handing over the file to William, who did a quick inspection, he nodded in approval before heading out of the room.

It was only then the leaders allowed themselves to smile.

* * *

When Dick heard the foam shrink, he looked up in confusion. He had done his daily training, and it wasn't even close to dinner yet. His eyebrow raised, he looked into the eyes of his uncle, glancing down to see him carrying a folder.

Dick let his eyes widened, hurriedly looking back up at William in hope of seeing his eyes tell him it was true. When he saw the emotion that he wanted flash through his eyes much to fast for the inexperienced to catch it, Dick restrained himself from jumping on the bed in excitement.

Excitment, a strange emotion he hadn't felt in a very long time. He had mostly felt anger, sadness, guilt, and sometimes amusement, but that last emotion was pretty weak, sometimes _he_ didn't even notice it was there.

Dick thought for a moment when the last time "happy" had even come to his mind, and he mentally shrugged. It was probably during those last few moments of the circus when his parents had been on the trapeze, moments before they had fallen to their death. This life may have given him an actual life and something to look forward to, but he had felt very few good emotions since he was there. This life wasn't a very happy one, but glancing around the room reminded himself this was the only place that would actually ever want him, something told him staying in the JDC until he was eighteen wasn't something he wanted instead.

Taking the folder from William, he read the man's file. His name was Tony Zucco, the general-

Dick stopped short.

He didn't know why, but that man's name made him feel burning anger. He glanced at the picture, looking at it more closely before connecting the dots.

He had been there the day his parents died.

Dick racked his brain for information, coming up with a startling conclusion. _He_ was the one that had threatened Mr. Haley, _he_ was the one Dick had seen "checking" the ropes. _He_ was the one that killed his parents. Eagerly reading over the rest of the information, he wasn't surprised to see he had been accused of rape a few times in his past, but Zucco had been able to convince the court he hadn't done it.

Dick decided he hated the justice system.

A few petty crimes here and there before eventually it turned into threatening businesses to pay him for "protection", much like he had done with Haley's Circus.

Dick turned to William, nodding to him and signaled he had finished reading the folder. William gave him a nod, repeating the rules from earlier, but Dick was barely listening. He followed William up the steps and walked out of the place without a word. He took one last glance at the now closed brick wall before stepping into the darkness.

* * *

Dick had killed every goon without making a sound before he silently made his way to Zucco.

He could end it quickly, but part of him wanted to taunt him. In the end, the taunting side won. He made his way up to Zucco who was finishing his phone call about some money he had received (undoubtedly from one of the businesses he had threatened) he had allowed himself to make a sound, and Zucco laughed. "I see the Bat-"

He spun around, his eyes clouded with confusion and he stopped short at seeing nothing before looking down. All he had most likely seen was the fact that he was a child, because he even scratched his head. "How did a kid get in here?"

Dick let out a low laugh, sending shivers down Zucco's spine. "Tony Zucco, the Court of Owls has sentenced you to die."

Dick could tell Zucco was barely managing to keep the cool-head routine, and it was probably because he was reminding himself that he was looking at a _child_. "Get over here you worthless goons, we've got a runaway!"

Dick leaned on the sword that was openly gleaming at him as Zucco looked around expectantly. "They're not coming, Zucco. I had quite a bit of trouble with the last one, he seemed to think making noise was acceptable. He's currently bleeding out on the floor over there, but I guess a slit throat does that to you."

Dick was a little surprised on how calm he was being with this situation, and he even felt a little tingle in his throat to laugh when Zucco tried to step backwards and run.

Dick was on him in seconds, knocking him to the floor. The sword to his throat was keeping him down. "If you would kindly direct me to the rooftop, I promise I will not kill you. If you try to run or attack me, then that promise is off. Deal?"

Zucco hesitated, but most definitely did not want to die. He nodded his head, and Dick let him up. The way he held his stance told him if he tried anything, he wouldn't be so lucky next time. Zucco quickly took him to the rooftop, wondering what they were doing all the way up here.

Dick narrowed his eyes, and Zucco shivered at how cold his eyes looked. Zucco knew practically nothing about children, but from what he had seen when an annoying child had walked right in while he was threatening their parents, he figured they were innocent and happy. "Have you not figured out who I am, Zucco? What a tragedy. I must tell you." He gave him a small smirk, "five years ago, you threatened Haley's Circus into trying to give money for "protection". When the ringleader refused, you messed with the ropes of one of their acts. The Flying Grayson's. When they died, they left a little orphaned circus boy behind." Dick paused, telling Zucco to make a guess.

"You-you're that Grayson kid! Richard Grayson!"

Dick gave him a smirk to signal he was right, he quietly walked up to him. "I remember you laughing when they died, I wonder if you'll be laughing when you die, too."

Zucco's eyes widened as he got the hint, but it wasn't caught quick enough. Next thing he knew, Dick was holding him over the edge, Zucco leaning as he looked down from the three story building. "You promised-"

"I think that you should know by now, Zucco. Promises are very childish."

It was then that Dick dropped him.

Dick heard screams coming from the man, it wasn't until he heard the satisfying crunch of bones that he allowed himself to turn around. He had, of course, heard Batman's footsteps. He glanced around the rooftop and acted like he didn't notice him, but he saw him trying to blend in with the shadows.

It took him a split second to realize Batman was trying to jump him. Dick rolled his unseen eyes, hadn't Batman learned by now he couldn't sneak up on him? "Come on out, Bats. I knew you had been there since you came, right at the dramatic keeping a promise line. You sure do have great timing."

Dick waited patiently on the roof as he guessed Batman was trying to figure out how he'd know. Batman did soon come out with a bit of reluctance, it was then Batman noticed he was also looking at the direct spot where he was. "How?"

Dick raised an eyebrow, "where I come from, we train intensely on picking up movement and sounds. When you walk, your shoes let out a slight scrape at the surface and your breath wasn't at all the same pattern as the blowing wind. As for where you were standing, I saw the corner of your cape move."

Batman stood there for a second, he looked quite shocked. It was obvious to Batman that this boy even exceeded _his_ skill in stealth. A part of him didn't want that to be true, maybe he was just trained at being observant. The only person he knew that could be debated with this was Deathstroke, there was no way a kid this young could possibly understand this. Unless..

Batman took in a deep breath, he didn't want it to be true. This boy deserved much more than him, "are you Deathstroke's apprentice?"

There was a long, tense second that passed before the boy doubled over laughing. He barely managed to get a breath in between his fit of giggles. When he'd finally managed to calm himself down enough to speak, he looked over at Batman's look of shock. "Sorry, it's just that.. Me? The big bad wolf's apprentice? Mr. Halloween himself?" He let out another laugh, "I just.. Can't. Slade Wilson of all people, unbelievable!"

Batman tensed at the man's real name, but the boy still paid no mind to the fact he had just used one of the most wanted man's actual name. Batman had tried to make links to Slade Wilson in an attempt to get him arrested, but it was pretty much useless. The man was just like Bruce in a way, and was very careful to make sure he would never be linked back to his night time character.

His thoughts were off of Deathstroke for the time being, there was no doubt he'd figure it out later, "who are you, then? Who trains you?"

The boy's laughter and all signs of it was off his face almost as fast as they had come, it was tense for a moment before his look of seriousness was replaced with a thoughtful look. "I'm not sure if I can tell you that or not."

Batman's frown deepened. "Why not? I've already heard about all the gangs and villains of this city, it's not like it will be a surprise." Batman tried to reason with the boy, but it only seemed to make him sadder.

"You don't know about us." He managed to say.

"Why not?"

"Because if you did, you'd already be dead."

Dick gave him another long look before he jumped over the roof top on a back flip, his attempt looked like suicide, he heard Batman yell to "the boy", still watching him as he fell. For a moment, he enjoyed the free falling, it was almost like flying.

At the perfect moment he flipped and grabbed a flag pole that was jutting out of the side of the building, expertly swinging and sticking to the shadows as he made his way to the alleyway that held the moving wall.

* * *

Batman's nightly _run_ was over, but the night wasn't over yet. He had work to do.

Tearing off his cowl to reveal Bruce Wayne, he noticed Alfred behind him. No one said a word for a moment, then Bruce let out a sigh and brought out the recording device. Plugging it into the Bat-Computer, they listened to Bruce and the mysterious child's conversation, after it was all over Bruce leaned his head back in confusion.

"I just don't get it, Alfred. This boy, he looks around eleven or twelve, yet he knows how to kill someone and had done it many times already, and that's just what _I'm_ aware of."

Alfred, however, turned it to a very different subject, one that he knew Bruce could figure out now and it would take his mind off the ones that couldn't be answered as of now. As much as Alfred knew he was a full grown man that could make his own decisions, it didn't mean he didn't worry for his health, _and_ his sleep patterns. "Master Bruce, if your hunch is correct about him being trained by someone, then why would he stick around to talk? It seems like, from my experience with Deathstroke, he could get in a lot of trouble because of this. Why would he risk getting hurt or punished just to speak to you?"

Bruce thought about it for a long, hard moment before giving an answer. "Well, if what he told me yesterday was true, he's lived underground for the past five years. I'm guessing that he's had very little interaction with anyone except this trainer of his, maybe he's talking to me because he's.. Lonely?" Of course, it did make sense. "And I'm guessing from what I've picked up about him, he relaxes slightly, if only slightly, the moment he kills the person he was sent after. Maybe they don't care who he talks to as long as the main mission was complete. In all honesty, as long as he's not kidnapped or gives away secret information, he may not get punished at all."

Alfred nodded slowly before asking a question of his own once more, "what is it with you and this boy, Master Bruce? He's killed many people already, and yet he's not sitting in your jail cell ready to be interrogated any second. If this was Deathstroke or any other crazy lunatic, I am more than certain they would already be on their way to a high security prison that is impossible to break out of. So I ask, Master Bruce, why is this boy receiving a free pass of sorts?"

Bruce blinked twice, all sorts of questions running through his head. ' _It's not because he's a child, and I could take him down if I wanted to, why_ am _I giving this boy a free pass?'_

"I guess.." He trailed off for a minute to get his thoughts together. "I guess that I see this boy as confused. I know he doesn't want to kill, Alfred, I know he doesn't. I want to give him a second chance, a way to rethink about what he's done without being put in a cell to rot."

"And how are you going to do that, Master Bruce?"

A pause, then, "I'm going to offer him a position on the team we made for the sidekicks. We can't have him help with Justice League priorities, but we can have him help with stuff the other team gets assigned." Bruce sighed, leaning back into the chair. "If he doesn't accept, I guess I _will_ have to send him to a high security prison. For some reason, it makes me feel better knowing I gave him a choice, he's much to young to be classified as a dangerous criminal without getting the chance of redemption."

Alfred nodded, giving Bruce a small smile to show him he supported his idea. Glancing quickly at the clock, he read the time to be 4:00am. "Do get some sleep, Master Bruce. You still have the meeting at eight, and it's one, if you don't want to look suspicious, you can't afford to miss."

Bruce strained to hear Alfred's quiet footsteps behind him, finding it nearly impossible with sleep needed in his system. Pushing himself out of the chair with a bit of resistance after a minute of debating in his head whether to put more thought into this boy or not tonight, he went to change and get the much needed sleep.

Minutes later as he pushed himself into bed, he could have sworn he heard an owl hoot from just outside his window.

* * *

Hello, everyone! What a mighty fine time to update, 11:00 at night when a majority of the world won't read it for another half a day! Yeah!

Okay, so, this answered a lot of questions some of you guys were having, such as about why he stayed behind and why Bruce is resistant to attack him. Sorry if Bruce seems a bit OOC, I'll explain why I'm writing him this way in a second.

Before we can get to the juicy part (and a small spoiler) about the future of this FanFiction, I think I should get my excitement out. This story has gotten the most reviews on a single chapter in 24 hours, that's amazing! I mean, 8 reviews may not seem like a lot (it's probably not) but that's a huge accomplishment for me, my most liked/followed story only got three on the first chapter, and that was after three days. This alone is telling me about the future of my FanFiction, I find it simply crazy how much you guys are telling me you enjoy it! Yeah!

Of course, I have improved as well. I'm sure you all have seen my early works, they're not something I'm proud of. * **shutters** * Still can't believe I actually had enough guts to post that, I re-read my old drafts and actual published work and just start laughing. I remember I didn't even have drafts, I just made one final draft, skimmed it, then deemed it good enough to post.

Now, for those people asking why Bruce is acting this way, here's your (hopefully good enough) answer. Bruce isn't normally good with children, in fact he barely looks at them if he has a choice. But, something about this child interests him, makes him think back to his own childhood. The more Bruce studies the boy, the more of this feeling he gets like he's seen him before as well. He's the case that Bruce just can't crack, and him learning about how the child is speaking to him willingly is making his "wanting to be a detective" scale go off the charts. Even though he denies it out loud, Bruce secretly sees a little of this boy in himself as well.

Anyway, every chapter you'll get a small spoiler. Sometimes it will be minor spoilers, and sometimes they'll be big ones. They all have to do with the NEXT chapter, so don't go and get any ideas about me spoiling the ending unless it's the next-to-last chapter.

Also, if you hate spoilers, don't worry about reading the authors note and are afraid to find it out without wishing to. I'ma have a big sign, you'll see it when you get to it.

And last thing before the spoiler and me answering reviews, the information at the top of the chapter will never change unless for some reason I change the summary. Right down here is where I'll be telling you guys anything important, and down here is where I'll be answering reviews.

Anyway, here is y'all beloved **SPOILER ALERT:**

Dick joins the YJ team, but not as easy as you may (or hope to) think.

 **END OF SPOILER. REVIEWS:**

Abyss1826: Here's your update! And sadly, the thing I said about Talon stories are very true. The only good ones I can find are incomplete and will most likely never post another update again. :(

Tilicia: Thanks! And he'll be Robin throughout the whole story. :)

NoOneKnowsThisAboutMe: Thanks! :D

.Suicide.777 (name is cutting off, you know who you are): Thank you!

3DPhantom: Hello, old friend! Been a while since you reviewed one of my stories. Thank you for your kind review! And the answer to that question is posted in the story, if you missed it, read the part where Bruce is in the BatCave!

demons dance(your name is also cutting off, you know who you are too!): Thanks so much! :)

Lia: I hope it has, because my writing before was pitiful. I used to spend hours writing a chapter on google docs then writing it again better, then again better, then again, then- well, you get the gist. Did it about twenty times before I got satisfied with how it looked and thought it improved my writing. Started doing that everyday day for about a month. But anyway, thanks for your review! (And no judging here, my phone has done the same thing)

Guest of honor: Here's your chapter! Thanks for your review!


	3. Names Are Worth Remembering

**Name** : Blending In With the Shadows

 **Summary** : After Richard Grayson's parents were murdered in front of his eyes, everything changed. He was kidnapped by the Court of Owls, trained for five years underground without seeing daylight, and eventually became a Talon. Dick was sure his life was planned out. Then, he was captured by the enemy, and his world became a little more confusing.

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own YJ or any of its characters.

* * *

 _Chapter Three - Names Are Worth Remembering_

Dick stared aimlessly at the ceiling, lost in thought about yesterday's events.

Yesterday was what many here called "the best day of their life", the day he had officially become recognized as a Talon. There was a small ceremony, lots of pats on the backs, and people looking at him with newfound respect. He was now known as Richard Grayson, youngest Talon known to the Court of Owls history. While some were skeptical of him being a Talon so early, the leaders had been impressed by him, and that was not only something very rare, but also something very precious.

Sitting in his training uniform on the bed, he slowly moved his raven hair out of his eyes. Sometimes, he wished the mirror wouldn't show black eyes, but instead show the blue eyes he had grown up with. Dick used to strain himself to find the correct color or try and remember their exact shade of blue, but he had nothing to go off of after the Court took all of his belongings. He had pale skin already, and mixed with his black hair didn't give much of a color difference, he looked sadly ordinary if it weren't for his pitch black eyes. With no scars or birthmarks or anything besides his eyes to set him apart from the crowd, it used to be that everyone was drawn to his eyes, saying it was the pop of color that mesmerized them. Sighing softly, Dick closed his eyes and forced the memories of his parents complimenting his eyes from his mind, it only showed weakness, and that simply wasn't tolerable for Talons.

He had been sitting almost unmoving for the past two hours, staring unblinkingly at the ceiling and lost in thought. After training had ended around twelve, he went straight to laying on the bed to think about anything that came into his mind, which was mostly focused on trying to remember what the stars had looked like when he went out a week ago, but finding them hard to remember with the uncommon visits. From what he knew about teenagers, they were almost always busy and thinking about things, stressed out by that math grade or the new gossip column in (what he thought was called) a magazine. Schoolwork, after school activities, and other things kept them out of the house for a long time, the hustle and bustle of life making sure their moments of relaxation were put to a minimum. Dick smiled slightly, thinking about how great of a life that would have been.

He had not learned anything math, reading, science, or history wise since he had been taken by the Court five years ago. The Court didn't stress about teaching their Talons and lower about who was the thirtieth president or why a frog jumps, since they would never need it. After all, Talons are never permitted to leave the Court unless resigned by a member of the head table, and that had only happened twice since the Court had formed. So, he would never need to learn anything more than what his parents had taught him, and maybe an occasional lesson about measuring distance in the blink of an eye. As great as it may sound never going to school, it was boring and motivating. His schedule never changed, he never got to do anything exciting, and his life was planned out from the moment his eyes turned black.

Frowning slightly, he fumbled with his sleeve absently. Well, it wasn't _really_ absent since he was making himself do it, but that was as best as he was ever going to get at being "absent". The Court had broken every nervous habit - well, all habits for that matter, so now he didn't have anything to do absentmindedly, the Court taking anything that could be seen as a weakness and killing it where it stood. What used to be a free and cute movement, now looked clunky and forced. Because, in a way, that was exactly what it was.

Sometimes, even after five years of living in a non-stop pattern, he'd close his eyes and think to himself _'if anyone out there is listening, please let me live a normal life again, even if just for a day.'_

Well, he _used_ to do that sometimes, that stopped a couple of months back. It felt silly to think he'd ever thought about something as childish as that, and besides, he should be _grateful_ , his uncle took him in when he wasn't wanted, gave him a new life. Besides, he had all he ever asked for, and it was silly to think there was more to this world than what his uncle provided.

Right?

He shouldn't be thinking about this, the Court was where his life was, whether he wanted it to be or not. He heard footsteps echoing down the hall, tuning his ears to see if they were familiar. It wasn't William, he put more weight on his front toe while this figure favored his heel. He heard them stop in-front of his door, and Dick raised a curious eyebrow as he sat on the edge of his bed, hearing the foam shrink. Who could be visiting him?

He got an answer when Jacob Whitt, a man he hadn't seen in four years, stepped into the room. No wonder he didn't know who he was, he hadn't begun to memorize footstep patterns until _after_ he met him, but he should have racked his brain for any similarities anyway. Thank God William wasn't here, he'd have his head for being so stupid.

Jacob Whitt lightly smiled at him, making Dick sort of confused. "Hello, Richard. I see you remember me, yes?" Dick didn't have time to answer or shake his head yes, because Jacob continued on quickly. "Well, I am pleased to note that you will be attending dinner with the head table, as it is tradition with new Talons. I expect you to be dressed in your uniform and ready in an hour."

Dick nodded as Jacob turned around, and he knew he wouldn't be mistaking those footsteps anytime soon. Though his face remained as blank as always, he was super excited and hurriedly rummaged through his drawers to find an untouched uniform neatly folded at the bottom, which wasn't to be moved or worn until you were promoted as a Talon. Hurrying into his small bathroom, he turned on the shower and thought about how great the dinner would be.

* * *

Batman groaned audibly as he sunk deeper into the chair and stared at the small file he had on the mysterious boy, which only consisted of estimates. He had nothing on who he was, and his scanners had no match for any boy who fit his criteria; including the boys who were proclaimed dead. Batman couldn't find a match, no matter how hard he searched or how many times he sat down and tried something else. It was hopeless.

He could probably get a better file on him if he saw him again, but so far the boy's whereabouts were unknown. He hadn't seen a glimpse of him in a week, and as far as he knew, the boy hadn't been out at all. How was he supposed to speak with him if he couldn't even see him, much less talk to him? He also didn't know his name, and that was just as helpful as knowing what his foot size was.

He clicked the _start_ button, watching as the computer sorted through all of the citizens in town and tried to find any suitable matches. He had thought harder about what he was going to do with the boy once he caught him, the team of sidekicks could really use a stealth lesson, especially after their last observe mission. Superboy had managed to knock over a crate and give away their positions, and the whole mission had been a huge bust.

Of course, it all depended on whether or not the boy cooperated.

Bruce groaned as the results came up, listing impossible options. He hadn't found anyone that could match up to this boy, and he didn't have enough information on the mentor to put a qualified search on him or her, either. In a nut shell, he was stuck, and he just hoped he'd be able to find the boy tonight, if he didn't, he'd have to look closer at his memory.

"Master Bruce, will you be heading out soon?" Asked a voice from behind, startling Bruce. A smile tugged at his lips, no matter how much he tried, even after all of his training, Alfred always managed to sneak up on him. Just like-

Bruce let out a huff, straining his clenched fist before forcing himself to relax. "Yes, I am. I'm hoping the boy will be showing tonight, otherwise I fear I'm getting farther and farther from finding out who he is."

The old butler, being his usual caring self, cleared his throat to earn back the younger man's attention. "I do not believe this is healthy, sir." Alfred stated, observing carefully as Bruce's face twisted with emotion. First anger for being accused, then denial because of being told it's an obsession in kinder words, then a soft sigh as he realized Alfred was right.

"You're probably right, Alfred. But I can't afford to stop. Not now, not when I feel like I'm so close to the truth." Looking up at the old man's slightly worried face, he sighed softly. "I'll get more sleep, okay?"

Alfred knew he couldn't ask of anything else at the moment, so he nodded his head and the quiet tapping of his expensive shoes could be heard as he went to the small elevator, holding a dusting rag in his hand. The slight shuffle of bats could be heard from above as Bruce glared at his computer, nobody could match the boy's figure.

And with a small sigh, he shut off the computer that required either voice activation or a nine digit code, getting up to go get changed.

* * *

Dick's next mission was his simplest yet. Break into the Bat-Cave and delete any information Batman may have on Dick or the Court of Owls.

He moved like a scurrying bat that often occupied this cave, in fact, he even scared the bats into moving when he as he crawled on the cave roof, using retractable shoes and special hooks that he'd been provided, a smirk on his face as Batman failed to recognize the different pattern of how the bats move, as well as the quiet noise his shoes made that definitely didn't belong to any creature in the cave.

Sliding down the giant T-Rex and keeping to the shadows as he reached the computer, estimating around two minutes until Bruce returned and he was spotted, he quietly started up the computer. Of course, no matter how talented you were, it was impossible to exactly mimic a person's normal voice, and getting "close enough" wouldn't work with this kind of technology. Running his hand over the keyboard, he smirked as the correct keys came to him. _'947207529'_

The 'correct' screen flash in front of him.

Glancing at the time, he had a minute left, which wasn't much time. Closing down the search and finding the correct file, he deleted everything Bruce had on Dick, then smiled as nothing was found with the Court of Owls.

Ten seconds.

Scurrying, he grabbed the notebook laying out and tore all the pages from it, estimating he had no back ups. Grabbing a pencil and writing down a few words, he shut down the computer just as he heard footsteps come towards him, arguing on a cellphone of sort. Running into the shadows and jumping onto the wall, he climbed to the roof where the support beams and rafters lay, using the bats once again to cover up his unnatural sounds as he squeezed through a small hole the led to the outer wall, where he couldn't be detected from then on.

His mission was complete.

* * *

Bruce sighed, wondering why he even turned off his computer in the first place, since he was just going to go change. It was probably because he forgot he'd even needed to come back for a quick skim of the police records to check anything he'd missed on Tony Zucco.

Sighing as he came up with one missed result, a reported threat at Haley's Circus five years ago, he decided to add that to the file of places to search for the strange boy. Now, where was that file?

Wait, where _was_ that file?

Searching through his files again, no results popped up. Kind of panicking, he checked the trash, and also found nothing. Where was it? Checking the records of deleted files, he noticed it had been permanently deleted about a minute ago, but how could that be? It couldn't have been an accident, could it have? Grabbing the notebook sitting on his right, all the pages having to do with the mysterious boy had been ripped out.

Looking closer, he saw a small note written in green pen. _'Sorry about that, Bats. Orders. Enjoy your search! -D"_

D? Who's D?

Oh.

 _Ohhhh._

The boy's name started with a D? Well, all of his information had been deleted, but it was a good start.

Turning back to a new file, he entered the first line of information.

"Name: D-"

* * *

Oh, I hate this chapter! Sorry guys, it's to short and not well thought out. I promise the next one will be better, and hopefully make up for the last one!

So, uh, for those of you wondering how Dick did it, I got the correct numbers thing from a documentary I watched on hackers (yes, I know, weird), and it stated that sometimes hackers claimed to find the four-digit number combination because normal adults push harder on the keys for a digit password, for example if your computer password was 5678, then the 5678 keys would be slightly more worn since you push harder on the keys for a password. Cool, right?

As for the order.. No idea. DICK HAS SKILL. DEAL WITH IT.

Haha. Anyway, here's your beloved **SPOILER ALERT:**

Dick has a small annoyance with super-powered aliens, especially the hero type.

 **-REVIEWS-**

demons dance (name is cutting out!): Thanks! Here's your update!

abyss1826: Yes! Same! Thank you so much! :D

Rainfall04: Thanks! I wish the same could be said about _this_ chapter, but I'm not feeling to well so it's a bit rushed. Sorry. :(

3DPhantom: Great, glad to see you more active! You're welcome, sorry about not being very clear. And thanks! Glad to see I'm not the only one that thought of this while reading it/planning it out! :)

TheAwesomeGuest: Haha, thank you! What can I say, school work leaves me exhausted. Hope you enjoyed!

Master of Ze Aster: OKAYYYYYYY! Haha. Also, your name is fantastic! XD

Lia: Thanks! Totally agree, that's why I switched it up a bit. Thank you for the lovely comment!

Guest of honor: Maybe... ;)

Unknown: Thank you! Tons of prep work went into this, glad it's pay off! :D

Amelia Loves Anime: Haha, thank you. I agree with that statement, they're all pretty much cliché, which was what gave me the inspiration to write one myself. Thanks for the comment!

TheGirlOfTheSeasons: Thanks so much! I try very hard to make the characters realistic and relatable. And here's your anxiously awaited update, sorry for taking so long!

story magic: Here's your update! And don't worry, there's definitely going to be some great fight scenes involved, I love writing action and such, but unfortunately the storyline and development has to come first. Enjoy!


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